Baby won't settle at night help?

[Josie9998]

My son is almost a year old and he will not go to sleep usually any earlier than 10 o'clock no matter how hard I have tried. He will sleep in his cot from 10 ish to about half 2 then he will stir and not go back to sleep until he is put in his buggy and pushed back to sleep he will then sleep in his buggy until 7am then come into our bed until about 8.30 when he wakes up. I have tried to change this so many times but it can get very exhausting. I have just found out I am pregnant again and expecting around September. I am now just full of anxiety that my son will be doing this even when the new baby is born I know he could change his sleeping habits by then but I am full of dread. Does anyone have any advice of how I could get him to stay in his cot all night or even just until at least early morning or even how I can try get him to sleep earlier at night ? Thanks

I would suggest stop rocking him in his buggy till he sleeps, it's not going to help him learn to sleep in his own cot. I'd look into sleep training to be honest, he's at an age where he should have the skill of getting to sleep on his own. Put in a solid bedtime routine and set a bedtime that suits you. It'll take time, but the effort will be worth it.

What is his day time routine and naps like?

I have tried so many times to just let him fall back asleep but it doesn't seem to work. And he usually wakes at 8/8.30 has a bottle then breakfast at 10/10.30 and until last week he usually went for a nap around 11. For 2.hours and did that for months but now he has decided he doesn't want to nap until 2/2.30 pm and he will sleep for 2 hours usually and that is the only nap he will have in the day. And then gets his last bottle at 8.30 but won't usually sleep till 10.

What methods have you used to help him fall to sleep? It can take weeks of using the same method to finally start getting results. I know its tiring but if you need him to sleep, it's worth sticking with. I think he needs more than one 2hr nap in a day time but you may want to check that, it may be he doesn't want to nap because he doesn't know how to self settle too.

He always has to have white noise playing to fall asleep which i know is a bad habit and he will fall asleep at night in our bed beside us listening to white noise then we move him into his cot. But I am going to start this week by lowering the white noise gradually at night and when he wakes to go in his buggy I am going to try my hardest to ensure he stays in his cot

The white noise isn't really a 'bad' habit though, if it helps him sleep that's fine. The buggy pushing is probably what you need to focus on reducing. If it's a comfort thing, there are gentle ways of sleep training such as the moving chair which may be good. The older they get, the harder it is to get them to sleep unfortunately!

If the white noise is working, I wouldn't change that at the moment. How does he get to sleep at nap time? If he lies next to you at bedtime, I think it is unlikely he will go back to sleep in the middle of the night in his cot.

I would either bring him in bed with you when he wakes or work on settling him in his cot at bedtime. If you go the cot route, I would make it as similar to your bed as possible e.g. white noise, you close by stroking etc. In time you can gradually reduce your input. Once he is able to settle himself at bedtime, it should be easier in the night.

You probably don't want him in your bed, especially being pregnant. I mentioned it because an element of sleep is developmental. Sometimes it is worth rolling with it for now and working on it again in a few months. It would be easier to lie next to him and stroke etc than have to push a buggy.

Most nights he doesn't even wake up in his cot he just does a constant stirring until he is put in his buggy, I am determined to try and stop this habit as soon as I can as it is tiring having to get up at the same time every single night to do so and I cannot imagine doing this with a newborn child when the time comes

Have a look at the possums sleep program, the basics are waking them up at the same time every day, not putting them down to sleep at the first tired signs but trying to engage them in something new to see if they're just bored, they sleep when they sleep but possibly capping naps if they still don't have enough need for sleep to sleep all night (they can still wake but go back to sleep easily)

If you want him to go to sleep earlier at night you need to get him up earlier in the morning. I would try getting him up at 7 every day for a week and see what happens.

You must have the patience of a saint to that every night. I'd definitely sleep train! I'd aim for an earlier wake up and bedtime, and a lunchtime nap. While I hate cosleeping that would be a better option for me than using the buggy in the middle of the night - that would be the first thing I'd stop.

@Josie9998

Most nights he doesn't even wake up in his cot he just does a constant stirring until he is put in his buggy, I am determined to try and stop this habit as soon as I can as it is tiring having to get up at the same time every single night to do so and I cannot imagine doing this with a newborn child when the time comes

What happens if you leave him to "stir"?

If he doesn’t nap until 2.30 and then sleeps for two hours then there’s no way he’ll go down earlier than 10. Waking up from a nap at 4.30 is much too late.

I agree with a pp when he wakes at 7-7.30 you need to get up then. Don’t try and get him back to sleep. Bottle and then breakfast by 8.30 latest. Then he will be ready for his nap earlier, which means he will wake up earlier; so then he will be ready to go to bed earlier.

Also agree you need to stop the nighttime buggy rocking but you might need to introduce another sleep aid to help transition him, does he have a dummy?